Colbert, Stewart thrive in primetime

Obama's win hands high numbers to hour-long special on CTV and Comedy Network.

While most Canadians likely relied on networks such as CNN for US election coverage on Tuesday, CTV’s airing of the Indecision 2008: America’s Choice special and CBC News: The National reported solid numbers for the 10 pm hour.

The numbers are up 147% from the season-to-date average for Stewart’s The Daily Show, and mark a 265% increase over The Colbert Report. In the US, the hour-long special grabbed an impressive 3.1 million viewers on Comedy Central, according to Variety – the highest numbers yet for a Comedy Central election special, up 45% from 2004.

Meanwhile, CBC News: The National with Peter Mansbridge averaged nearly 900,000 viewers at 10 pm for a ‘pretty good night,’ according to a CBC spokesperson. Coverage over on Newsworld peaked at 11 pm with over half-a-million viewers.

CNN and ABC were the winners in the US on election night, which was covered by 14 networks in all.